Liquified petroleum gas

Liquified petroleum gas (also called liquefied petroleum gas, liquid petroleum gas, LPG, LP Gas, or autogas) is a mixture of hydrocarbon gases used as a fuel in heating appliances and vehicles, and increasingly replacing fluorocarbons as an aerosol propellant and a refrigerant to reduce damage to the ozone layer. Varieties of LPG bought and sold include mixes that are primarily propane, mixes that are primarily butane, and mixes including both propane and butane, depending on the season - in winter more propane, in summer more butane. Propylene and butylenes are usually also present in small concentration. A powerful odorant, ethanethiol, is added so that leaks can be detected easily. LPG is manufactured during the refining of crude oil, or extracted from oil or gas streams as they emerge from the ground.

Related Topics:
Hydrocarbon - Fuel - Fluorocarbon - Ozone layer - Propane - Butane - Propylene - Butylene - Ethanethiol - Crude oil - Gas

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At normal temperatures and pressures, LPG will evaporate. Because of this, LPG is supplied in pressurised steel bottles. In order to allow for thermal expansion of the contained liquid, these bottles should not be filled completely; typically, they are filled to between 80% and 85% of their capacity. The ratio between the volumes of the vaporised gas and the liquified gas varies depending on composition, pressure and temperature, but is typically around 250:1. The pressure at which LPG becomes liquid, called its vapor pressure, likewise varies depending on composition and temperature; for example, it is approximately 2.2 bar for pure butane at 20 °C, and approximately 22 bar for pure propane at 55 °C.

Related Topics:
Steel - Vapor pressure - Bar

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LPG was first produced in 1910 by Dr. Walter Snelling, and the first commercial products appeared in 1912. It currently provides about 3% of the energy consumed in the United States.

Related Topics:
1910 - 1912 - United States

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LPG is widely used as a "green" fuel for internal combustion engines as it decreases exhaust emissions. It has an octane rating (RON) that is between 90 and 110 and an energy content (higher heating value - HHV) that is between 25.5 megajoule/liter (for pure propane) and 28.7 megajoule/liter (for pure butane.) Toyota made a number of LPG engines in their 1970s M, R, and Y engine families.

Related Topics:
Fuel - Internal combustion engine - Exhaust emission - Octane rating - Higher heating value - Megajoule - Liter - Toyota - 1970s - M - R - Y

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Currently, a number of automobile manufacturers -Citroën, Daewoo, Fiat, Ford, Hyundai, Opel/Vauxhall, Peugeot, Renault, Saab and Volvo- have OEM bi-fuel models that will run equally well on both LPG and petrol.

Related Topics:
Automobile - Citroën - Daewoo - Fiat - Ford - Hyundai - Opel - Vauxhall - Peugeot - Renault - Saab - Volvo - OEM - Petrol

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